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Readers!

 

It is now July, time once again to celebrate the start of this webpage in 2010 with my annual July fund-raising campaign.

 

This year I celebrate the fifteenth anniversary since I began Behind the Black. During that time I have done more than 33,000 posts, mostly covering the global space industry and the related planetary and astronomical science that comes from it. Along the way I have also felt compelled as a free American citizen to regularly post my thoughts on the politics and culture of the time, partly because I think it is important for free Americans to do so, and partly because those politics and that culture have a direct impact on the future of our civilization and its on-going efforts to explore and eventually colonize the solar system.

 

You can’t understand one without understanding the other.

 

Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent independent analysis you don’t find elsewhere. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn’t influenced by donations by established companies or political movements. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.

 

You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:

 

1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.

 

2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
 

3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:

 

4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
 
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You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.


Laser tag replaces air pistol in 2012 Olympic games

The summer Olympics has decided to replace the use of air pistols in the 2012 Olympics with laser guns. Air pistols shoot actual pellets, and using lasers instead will, according to the powers that be, “reduce the cost of shooting by two thirds in the sport and the improved safety of the event could mean new venues are used.” Of course, no one can cite any actual accidents from the use of air pistols, so this decision is essentially political correctness gone wild.

Update: Several shooting friends have emailed me to note that this change only applies to the Pentathlon, not to the air pistol events. Mea culpa.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 

The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

6 comments

  • Just wait for the saftey issued raised from retina damage from errant laser shots!

    Incidentally, I enjoy your segments on John Batchellor’s show.

  • John H

    The last time I purchased pellets for my air gun it nearly wiped out my bank account!

    You need a clip from A Christmas Story where Ralphie is told “You’re going to shoot your eye out!” as your next evening pause.

  • Mr. I

    And, let’s not forget that using rechargable laser guns will be “green”. (As long as you don’t consider the environmental costs of providing the power to recharge the batteries …)

  • Chris L.

    So exactly what part of the shooting event will actually involve ballistics?

  • Elizabeth

    Should use phasers instead.

  • LINO---Lloyd in name only

    I was driving to work today.
    I passed three gentlemen—only yards apart from each other–each clutching a cardboard sign describing their plight. They were all dressed in the attire of their trade: a ratty outfit, torn and notably unwashed. The solution to their woes?
    Any coin or currency I could spare. Of course, each sign offered the blessing of G-d.

    Instead, I thought they should be voting. They should raise their voices to the East and shout out to Obama that they should not be oppressed by his taxes that they do not pay.
    Our constitution does not exclude their voices or reduce the pitch of their respective cardboard.

    Yes, they were within their natural rights to make this tacit request.
    My question was: what reasonable franchisee would pursue such a business opportunity in such a careless manner?
    Where were the demographic studies pursuant to such an enterprise? Poorly thought out, to be sure.

    I suspect these people would make wonderful lobbyists. I propose that Lobbyists be confined to the “cardboard sign” approach to fundraising. They should be made to hand-letter these signs to prove their sincerity.
    Our great country would be a better place.
    The purveyors of cardboard understand what drives people and the people who drive.
    Allow them to be the voice of the banks that are leading us to our fate.

    May the hand-lettered Cardboard Signs become the deposit slips of our Great Society!

Readers: the rules for commenting!

 

No registration is required. I welcome all opinions, even those that strongly criticize my commentary.

 

However, name-calling and obscenities will not be tolerated. First time offenders who are new to the site will be warned. Second time offenders or first time offenders who have been here awhile will be suspended for a week. After that, I will ban you. Period.

 

Note also that first time commenters as well as any comment with more than one link will be placed in moderation for my approval. Be patient, I will get to it.

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